Self-contained air conditioning unit



June 21, 1955 ALF. EILERS SELF-CONTAINED AIR CONDITIONING UNIT INVENTORFiled Nov. I2, 1955 6%QJZM 7 ATTORNEY 2,711,086 SELF-CONTAINEDCONDITIONING Anton F. Eilers, Evansville, Ind.,' assignor to Servel,lnc.,,

New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware, Application November 12,1953, Serial No. 391,455 9 Claims. (31. 62-129) The present inventionrelates to air conditioning and more particularly to a self-containedairjconditio'ning unit for a room or like enclosure.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide,

an air conditioning unit of the type indicated which may be selectivelyadjusted to add fresh makeup air or exhaust stale room air through asingle passageway.

Another object is to provide an air conditioner of the type indicatedhaving a control damper for either. direct;

ing outside air to the suction side of a fanfor circulating room airover a heat absorbing element or directing room air to the suction sideof a fan for circuating outside air' over a heat dissipating element. 7i

Still another object is to provide an air conditioner of the typeindicated having separate compartments in which room air and outside airis circulated-a passageway communicating with the separate compartmentsand a damper for either closing the passageway. between compartments orcausing air to flow in either'ione or the other of two directionsthrough the passageway. I

These and other objects will become'm'ore apparent from the followingdescription anddrawing in which like reference characters 'denote likeparts throughout the several views. It is to be expressly understood,however, that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration only andnot a definition of the limitation of the invention, reference being hadfor this purpose to the appended claims. In the drawing: i i

Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of a window type air conditioning unitincorporating the present-invention and showing the rotatable damperadjusted toclose the pas sageway between compartments;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view of the passageway showing thedamperadjusted to direct outside T air into the room; t

Fig. 3 is a view similar to 'FigfZ showing the damper adjusted toexhaust stale room air through the passage-' way to the exterior of theroom; j V Fig. 4 is an extended view of the damper showing the portedcasing and shutter rotatable therein; and h Fig. 5 is a sectional viewtaken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. showing the passageway and damper in sideelevation and manually operatedknob for rotating theshutter relative tothe ported casing.

The present invention-may be applied to any conven-' tional type ofself-contained room air conditioning' unit. For purposes of description,the invention is shown applied to a window type air conditioner which isillustrated more or less diagrammatically as the detailed constructionmay take other forms. The embodiment'of air con ditioner illustrated inFig. 1 comprises; a housing '10 adapted to be mounted in a'window orother opening 11 in a wall 12 and has an inner portion a projecting intothe enclosure and an outer portion 10b projecting outwardly fronr theenclosure." The housing 10 has spaced parallel. sidewalls} 13 and 14 andparallel front and rear walls 15 and 16, The interior of the housing isdivided by a transverse of the enclosure or room to be conditioned ,1,wall 17 intoseparate compartments18 and 19 contained generally intheinner portion'10a and outer portion 10b of the housing, respectively.

Anair circulating means isprovided in each woman-- mentillustrated inthe form of a centrifugal type fan 20 I in compartment 18 and apropellor type fan 21 in compartment 19. Fans 20 and 21 are operated bya single motor 22 having .a shaft at one side extending throughtransverse wall 17 and connected to the rotor of fan 20 1 w and a shaftat its opposite side mounting the fan 21.

a! .A refrigeration systemis provided in the air conditioning unitcomprising a heat absorbing element or evaporator 23 mounted incompartment 18 and a heat dissipating element or condenser 24 mounted incompart- 15 ment 19.' A refrigerant compressor 25 is mounted incompartment 19 and preferably is of the type comprising the compressorand a driving motor enclosed in a hermetically sealedcasing. Althoughnot shown, the evaporator 23, condenser 24 and compressor 25 aresuitably 1 20 connected in a conventional manner to provide arefrig'eration system. A filter 33 is shown mounted in they housing 10at the front of the cooling element or evaporator 23,for removing dustor other solid particles from the air'. j

Each of the compartments 18. and 19'has an air inlet andan' air outletthrough which room air and outside air is circulated. The air inlet tocompartment 18 comprises an opening 26 in the front wall 15 of thehousing lflthrough' which room air may flow throughout the width ofthe'filter 33 and heat absorbing element 23 to the suction inlet at" theaxis of the fan 20. The outlet from compartment 18 comprises the outlet27 from the M1120. It will be understood that the inlet and outlet toand from the fan 20 are segregated from each other a'sby means of ahorizontal wall 28 overlying the air in) inlet 26 and-evaporator orcooling element 23. The outlet2 7from fan 20 may discharge air throughthe top of thehousing, not shown, or through an outlet opening in thefront wall 15 of the housing above the hori- 17, 'as'later explained indetail. Air enters the com-' 5 partment 19 through the louvres 29 andport 30 and flows toward the suction sideof the fan 21'. The outlet fromcompartment 19 comprises a centrally located opening 31 in the rear wall16 of the housing and directly at the rear ofthe-heat dissipatingelement or condenser 24. The outletopening 31 is of substantially thesame size as the m condenser 24 and air from fan 21 flows through thecondenser and outlet opening to the atmosphere atthe exte'rior ofthe-room' or enclosure being conditioned. To insure a flowi of airaround the compressorZS as it flows toward the fan21, and a distributionof the air over the condenser 24, a shroud 32 surrounds the fan 21 andcondenser 'in the compartment 19. As thus far described, theairconditioner may be considered as a conventional type inwhich-room airis circulated in contact with a cooling element and outside air iscirculated in contact with a heat dissipating element or condenser.

'In accordance with the present invention, a passageway 35 is providedin the housing 10 through which outside fresh air may be supplied to orstale air exhausted from the room or enclosure being conditioned. Thefiow of outside fresh' air or inside stale air through the passageway 35in either one. or the other of two directions is controlled by a damper36 foreither closing the passage wayjbetween compartments or opening thepassageway and connecting it to the air inlet to one or the other of2,711,086 Patented June 21, 1955 compartments 18 and 1? and formedbetween the side wall 14 and a parallel side wall 37 of the housing 10.The rearward end of the passageway 35 is in open communication with theatmosphere at the exterior of the enclosure being conditioned and theopposite end of the passageway is in open communication with the roomadjacent the air inlet 26 to compartment 18.] Port 30 in side wall 14also opens into the passageway 35, intermediate its ends. Thus, thepassageway 35 communicates with air inlets 26 and 39 to compartments 18and 19, and: provides a path for the flow of outside air into the roomway 35 throughout its height, see Figs. 1 and 5. The ca s-' ing 49 hascomparatively short cylindrical 'bauds' 41 and 42 at its top and bottomand arcuate walls 43, 44 and 45 extending vertically between thecylindrical bands 41 and 42. Arcuate wall 43 is of the greatest widthand lies adjacent the wall 37 of the housing 10. The narrowi arcuatestrip 44 is located adjacent to and contacts the juncture of side wall14 and transverse wall 17 atone side of the inlet port Sti'tocompartment 19 and narrowarcu ate strip 45 lies adjacent to and contactsthe end of Wall 14 at the opposite side of the air inlet port 30.Thebottom of the casing 463 seats on a bottom wall or base 46 of thehousing and the upper end of the casing underlies a top wall 47 of thehousing. When casin g 401'is mounted in passageway 35 the arcuate walls43, 443m 45 provide right angulariy positioned "openings or ports 48a,48b and 48:: of equal arcuate extent with the ports 48a and 48c inalignment with the passageway and port 48b in alignment with the portopening 30- to compartment 19. Mounted to rotate in the casing 40 is ashutter 50 having circular discs 51 and 52 at the top and bottom and anarcuate wall 53 extending between the top ,and,

bottom discs. To add rigidity to the shutter structure andcounterbalance the arcuate wall 33, rods 54 and 55 extend between thetop and bottom discs 51 and 52 at the side opposite the arcuate wall.The circular discs 51 and 52 closely fit the cylindrical bands 41 and 42of the casing 40 to guide the rotation of the shutter 50 andthe,

arcuate wall 53 is of a width to close a port openingASzz,

48b or 48c in the casing 40. A shaft 56 is .rigidlyconnected with theupper disc 51 of shutter 50 at the axis thereof and projects upwardlythrough the,;top wall-.47

of the housing with a knob 58 on its projectingend formanually rotatingthe shutter 50 relative to the casing 40.

Preferably, a collar 59 isprovidedon the shaft56t0, hold the shutter 59from longitudinal movement relative to the casing 4d. One form of theinvention haviug'nbw been described in detail, the mode ofoperationis-explained as follows. U

When maximum cooling of the airiinthe; roontis.

desired, the shutter 50 of damper 36 is rotated relative to the casing44) to the position shown in Fig. l to cause the wall 53 of the shutterto overlie the port opening 48a.

inlet port 30 to compartment 19. With thefrefrigeration compressor 25and fan motor 22 in operation, air in'the room or enclosure to beconditioned is drawn through the air inlet opening 26, filter 33 andcooling element or evaporator 23 by the fan 20. discharged by the fan 20through the outlet 27 back into the room. Simultaneously, outside air isdrawn into compartment 19 through the louvres 29 and also through thepassageway 35 and port 30 by the fan 21. Air entering compartment 19through louvres 29 and port 30 flows inwardly toward the fan 21 and isdischarged outwardly over the heat dissipating element or condenser 24and outlet opening 31 back to the atmosphere outside the The damper 36then closes the passageway 35. between compartments 18 and 19 forwardlyof the air' The cooled air is then.

enclosure. Thus, the heat -bythe evaporator 23 at low temperature isdischarged to absorbed from the room air the atmosphere at the exteriorof the room at high temperature.

air inletv port fitland opens the passageway-35r through i the alignedport openings 48a and 48c in the casing- Outside fresh air'is thencaused to flow through the passageway 35 to the interior of the room dueto the communication of the inner end of the passageway with the suctionside of the fan 20. The fan 20 draws room. air

anda certain proportion of outside air from the passage way through the'air inlet opening 26,.filter 33 arid cooling element 23 to the fan-afidis then discharged by the fan back into the room. Usually fresh makeupair is added whenfs'ome cooling is necessary but the maximum cooling;capacity ofthe unit is not required. v j

When the (recirculated air; in the enclosure becomes stale [or iscont'arninated with odors from cooking, tobacco or the like, the airconditioner may be adjusted to exhauststale' air from the room byactuating the knob 58 to turn. 7

the shutter 50'from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to;

that illustrated in 3. The arcuate wall 53then over-1 lies .the portopening 48c,:in casing40to close the passageway 53 attire opposite sideof theport opening 30 from that illustratedin Fig. l. The inner end ofpassage way 35 in pen communication with the roomg is then; connected tot he air inlet opening 30 to compartment 19 at the suction sideof thefan 21. 'Due to the construction,

and the relatiyegsuction produced by the two fans 20 and] 21, roomiscause'dto flow outwardly through thepassageway 35 and port 30 intocompartment 19 where it is i e sd th fan a 3 ex e ior of h n os reOperation oi the air conditioper with this positionaof; adjustment iscontinueduntil the stale or odoriferous air; in the enclosure has been ethausted.

lt'will now be observed that the present invention provides an airconditioning unit which may be'adjusted to either arid makeup.- air or,exhaust stale room air through a single'passageway, It will further beobserved, that the,

present invention provides a damper for either closing the passagewaybetween; compartments or opening the:

passageway tocause flow of room air or outside air' in eitherone or theother of tw0 ;direCtio nstherethrougiu It will also be observed that thepresent invention provides a stwstio and n m n -o elements for. directioutside air tothe suction side of a fan for. circulating room air ordirecting roomair to the suction side of a fan.

for circulating outside air. t.

While a single embodiment of the invention is herein.

illustrated and described, it will be understood that m'odificationsmaybe made in the construction and arrange? ment of elements withoutdeparting from the spiriton scope of the invention. Therefore, withoutlimitation in,

this respect, the invention is defined-by thetollowing claims j I'clarm,

1. In ment with a heat absorbing element therein,-a compart: ment with aheat dissipating element therein, an air inlet; and outlet to and fromeach compartment, air circulating means for circulating airfrom anenclosure to be cooled andj'ambient air from outside the enclosurethrough the compartments havinga heat absorbing and heat dissipat ingelement, respectively, the combination such'an; air conditioner tifselective means for independently errhaustin'g stale air frorn'or addingoutside ambient airto. the enclosure cornprising'a'n open passagewaycornmunh Under theseconditions of operation the air conditioner willoperate to cool the air in the room at 1 an conditionerof the typehavinga compamf eating with the enclosure and the outside ambient, saidpassageway having ports communicating with the separate compartments atthe suction side of the air circulating means, and a single movabledamper mounted in thepassageway to either close the port from thepassageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element apdopen the passageway or open said port and close the passageway betweensaid port and the outside ambient.

2. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the singlemovable damper is mounted in the pasasgeway to close the port from thepassageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating element orclose the passageway on either side of said port.

3. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the singlemovable damper is mounted to close the passageway between ports in oneposition, close the port from the passageway to the compartment havingthe heat dissipating element in another position to cause outside air toflow in one direction through the passageway to the suction side of thecompartment having the heat absorbing element, or close the passagewaybetween said port to the compartment having the heat dissipating elementand the outside ambient in another position to cause air from theenclosure to flow in the opposite direction through the passageway andport to the suction side of said compartment.

4. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which said port fromthe passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipating elementconstitutes an outside air inlet and the passageway constitutes a bypassaround said port to the air inlet to the other compartment when saidport is closed by said damper.

5. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the passagewayconstitutes a bypass around the air inlet to the compartment having theheat absorbing element when said damper is adjusted to open the portfrom the passageway to the compartment having the heat dissipatingelement and close the passageway between said port and the outsideambient.

6. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the damper isin the form of an arcuate shutter and mounted to rotate to dilferentangular positions in the passageway.

7. An air conditioner in accordance with claim 1 in which the passagewayis of rectangular cross section, the port to the compartment having theheat dissipating element is an opening in the side wall of thepassageway, and the damper comprises a generally cylindrical casingmounted vertically in the rectangular passageway and having threeangularly related spaced openings in alignment with the passageway andport opening to the compartment having the heat dissipating element, anarcuate shutter rotatably mounted in the casing for closing any one ofthe three openings in the casing, and means for rotating the shutterrelative to the casing.

8. In a room air conditioner of the type having a corn partment with aheat absorbing element therein through which a stream of room air iscirculated in a predetermined path and an adjacent compartment with aheat dissipating element therein through which a stream of outside airis circulated in a predetermined path, the combination with such a roomair conditioner of a port opening between the compartments, a singledamper for closing the port opening in one position and movable to aplurality of other positions, and said port opening and damper being soconstructed and arranged with respect to the paths of the air streams inthe difierent compartments as to induce the flowof outside air throughthe port opening into the room in one of said plurality of positions andinduce the flow of room air through the port opening to the outside inanother of said plurality of positions.

9. An air conditioner having a housing divided into adjacentcompartments, a refrigeration system having a heat absorbing element inone compartment and a heat dissipating element in the adjacentcompartment, each of said compartments having an air inlet and outlet,means for circulating room air and outside air through the respectivecompartments, a passageway between compartments, a damper having atleast one vane for closing the passageway and movable to a plurality ofother positions, said damper in one of said plurality of other positionsopening a pathfrorn the air inlet to one compartment to the passagewayand baffling the flow of air from the passageway to the outlet from saidcompartment, and

said damper in another of said plurality of other positions closing thepath from the air inlet to the passageway and opening a second path fromsaid passageway to the air outlet from said compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS DaviesDec. 14, 1948

